COGNITIVISM

The cognitivist paradigm essentially argues that the black box of the mind should be
opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor (like a
computer).
Originators and important contributors !errill "#omponent $isplay Theory (#$T)%
&eigeluth ('laboration Theory)% (agne% )riggs% *ager% )runer (moving toward
cognitive constructivism)% +chank (scripts)% +candura (structural learning)
,eywords +chema% schemata% information processing% symbol manipulation%
information mapping% mental models
Cognitivism
The cognitivist revolution replaced behaviorism in 196s as the dominant
paradigm! Cognitivism "ocuses on the inner mental activities # opening the $blac%
bo&' o" the human mind is valuable and necessar( "or understanding ho) people
learn! Mental processes such as thin%ing* memor(* %no)ing* and problem+solving
need to be e&plored! ,no)ledge can be seen as schema or s(mbolic mental
constructions! -earning is de"ined as change in a learner.s schemata!
/ response to behaviorism* people are not $programmed animals' that merel(
respond to environmental stimuli0 people are rational beings that re1uire active
participation in order to learn* and )hose actions are a conse1uence o" thin%ing!
Changes in behavior are observed* but onl( as an indication o" )hat is occurring in
the learner.s head! Cognitivism uses the metaphor o" the mind as computer2
in"ormation comes in* is being processed* and leads to certain outcomes!
Theories of second language ac-uisition follow suit .+econd language ac-uisition is
first and foremost a mental process / one that occurs in a behavioural and social
context% to be sure% but fundamentally a matter of ac-uiring a new knowledge system.
#ognition and cognitive factors% therefore% are central to any account of how and why
+01 works2 (0ong 3 &ichards 4556% p.vii) . 1nything else% such as the social contexts
in which language is used% or the physical stuff of the brain itself% or even the body in
which the mind7brain is housed% are considered marginal% messy% uninteresting / mere
noise.
8ot only is language a mental phenomenon% according to this view% but the .mind2 of
which it is a product is construed as a kind of computer (or as 9inker :6;;< ;4=
charmingly puts it .the on"board computer of a robot made of tissue2). >ence% .mental
life can be explained in terms of a computational process2 (?ohnson"0aird% 6;@@ 4A).
Or% put another way% cognition / and% by extension% learning / is basically information"
processing. Burthermore% because of the limitations on the amount of attention that
humans can allocate to any particular cognitive task at any one time% this processing is
necessarily controlled before it is automatic. Cn short% humans are .limited capacity
processors of information2.
This applies e-ually to language learning% both first and other. 1s !c0aughlin (6;@<
6DD) puts it
*ithin this framework% second"language learning is viewed as the ac-uisition of
complex cognitive skill. To learn a second language is to learn a skill% because various
aspects of the task must be practised and integrated into fluent performance. This
re-uires the automatiEation of component sub"skills. 0earning is a cognitive process%
because it is thought to involve internal representations that regulate and guide
performance.
)ecause learning is a cognitive process% this .information processing2 view of learning
is known as a cognitivist one% and the metaphor that best captures it is !C8$ C+
#O!9FT'&. 1ssociated with this model% therefore% we find a host of information"
processing terms like input, intake, output, feedback, automatization, filters% as well as
the term processing itself. 1nd% because cognition is implicated% we find a further set of
terms like noticing, attention, consciousness-raising, and restructuring.
from &eward (6;;G)
>ow does this actually impact on current methodologyH On the one hand% you could
argue that all these various models of mind and language operate at a level far removed
from actual classroom practice% and that teachers carry on doing what they2ve always
done / that is% teaching effectively. On the other hand% you could also argue that the
.mind is a computer2 metaphor has percolated down (or upH) and underpins many of our
methodological practices and materials% including the idea that language learning is
systematic% linear% incremental% enclosed% uniform% dependent on input and practice%
independent of its social context% de"humaniEed% disembodied% I and so on.
Ct is a model of language learning that% arguably% turns the learner into an automaton " .a
robot made of tissue2. 1s $avid )lock (455D ;<) notes% .in the ideal world of cognitive
scientists% the human mind is still conceived of as dependent on external stimuli to
which it respondsIThe adoption of the computer metaphor of input"output does not
disguise the fact that there is still a view of mental behaviour as systematic and
mechanistic2